Semester 2011B Call For Proposals

Gemini Observatory invites its community to propose scientific investigations for the 2011B semester,
1 August 2011 - 31 January 2012. The Call is open to all partners.

The submission deadline is THURSDAY MARCH 31 2011.
Submission times and other details vary by partner; please consult your National Gemini Office pages for more information. Multi-partner joint
proposals should be submitted by the deadline of the partner country to which the Principal Investigator is affiliated.

The purpose of this page is to highlight the most relevant information
for the Call. Significant additional information is
contained on supporting pages; users should follow the
links for more information. If hardcopy is preferred, the
primary pages are available as a single pdf document.

Target
accessibility limits will be imposed, so as not to bias the queue at the start or end of the
semester. The target accessibility limits for 2011B are,
for Gemini North 17 < RA < 13.5 and -37 < dec < +79, and for Gemini South
16 < RA < 12 and -89 < dec < +28. There are
additional constraints if a program requires
unrestricted access (e.g. MOS observations requiring pre-imaging, long observations or observations with strict constraints), and also for LGS programs at Gemini North. For 2011B, access to
GMOS-N at Gemini North, as well as NICI
and T-ReCS at Gemini South have
further restrictions. Targets for GMOS-N are restricted to 20.5 < RA < 13.5, targets for NICI to 21 < RA < 12, and targets for T-ReCS to 16 < RA < 5.

Starting in 2011B, all proposals for
Rapid Target of Opportunity (RToO) followup must submit a separate proposal for Standard Target of Opportunity followup (SToO) in conditions better than SB/CC/IQ Any, if such followup is planned. Upgrades to good conditions will not be approved for RToO programs, and the SToO proposal is required if such conditions are necessary for later followup.
This change is necessary for accurate filling of the queue, as ToO programs now make up
a significant fraction of the Observatory band 1 time.

The Phase I Tool (PIT) is updated for 2011B; see the
PIT page for downloads and further
information.

Notice regarding future instrument availability: As new instrumentation
comes online at Gemini South, it is likely that T-ReCS
will no longer be offered, perhaps as early as 2012B. In 2012B or 2013A, NICI
is expected to be replaced by GPI. On Gemini North, NIRI is aging and may no longer be
offered, on similar timescales. The Observatory is actively working with the
Gemini Science Committee (GSC)
to determine the optimum instrument suite that can be maintained at each telescope.
A possible instrument line up that is under discussion is given in
the Table at the end of Section 9, starting on
page 9 of the October 2010 Observatory response to the GSC Report .
Users are encouraged to send comments to their GSC representatives.

Gemini North

It is expected that 88% of the semester will be available for science. This amounts to 162 nights and includes 1.5 nights for
GMOS-N CCD
demonstration science. These nights are distributed across the partnership. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below.
Given the unavailability of GMOS-N between August and September, programs using GNIRS, NIFS or NIRI with targets at
17 < RA < 5 are encouraged.

Michelle is not offered in polarimetry mode, either imaging polarimetry or spectropolarimetry, in 2011B.

Gemini South

It is expected that 78% of the semester will be available for science. This amounts to 144 nights,
and includes 90 hours of NICI
campaign science, which are distributed across the
partners that participate in the campaign.The final distribution of nights across the partnership is shown on the
time distribution page. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below. Given the available instrument suite, bright-time programs with relaxed observing condition constraints (e.g., SB Any, CC 70, IQ 85) are encouraged.

In Semester 2011B GEMS commissioning will take highest priority, reducing the availability of bright photometric nights with good seeing, and possibly impacting the scheduling of classical runs.

Keck and Subaru Exchange

Up to 5 bright/gray
nights of classical time are available with the HIRESoptical spectrograph
on Keck. More information is available on the Keck time application page. The requested nights must be within the following windows
with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2 nights in any one window:
September 4 - 18, November 2 - 17 and January 1 - 14. Proposals should be submitted via the normal
Gemini process. All proposers for Keck time must also complete the Keck cover page. Email this page
to your NTAC chair. [more
information]

Subaru is expected to have
extensive downtime in the 11B semester for Hyper Suprime Cam commissioning,
but the dates are yet to be determined.
Therefore proposers must be as flexible as possible with their scheduling requirements. Explicit windows are
not set for 2011B. Runs will be scheduled around the shutdown, such that the number of dark, gray and bright
nights is one-third of the total number of nights allocated.
Proposals should be submitted via the normal Gemini process.
[more
information]

Additional Information

Details of the capabilities available at
each Gemini telescope are given below. Please see the page of supporting information for
additional general information.

Gemini North: Facilities

All instruments are offered in queue and
classical
mode, except for Laser Guide Star AO which is queue mode only.

Facility instruments:

GMOS North
- 0.36-0.95 micron imager and
spectrograph: imaging and long-slit, multi-object and integral field spectroscopy.
5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately R=26 for imaging and R=21-23 for spectroscopy (applicants should refer to the instrument web pages for updated sensitivities as the detector upgrade is ongoing). Due to the installation and commissioning of the new
Hamamatsu CCDs, GMOS-N will most likely be available between October 2011 to January 2012, and targets for GMOS-N should be limited to 20.5 < RA < 13.5.

GNIRS
- 1-5 micron spectrograph: fed
with the direct or AO-corrected beam. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are
approximately K=18.5 to K=14.5 depending on the resolution used (applicants should refer to the instrument web pages for updated sensitivities as the instrument performance is still being evaluated).

Michelle -
7-26 micron spectrograph and imager: imaging and R=100-3000 and echelle spectroscopy. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately N=11 for
imaging and N=6-9 for spectroscopy. Michelle will most likely only be available for two short periods at the start and end of the semester, depending on demand. Neither imaging polarimetry nor spectropolarimetry will be offered with Michelle in 2011B.

NIRI
- 1-5 micron imager: imaging fed
with the direct or AO-corrected beam. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately K=23 for imaging. NIRI is no longer offered for spectroscopy.

NIFS - 0.95-2.40 micron integral
field unit spectrograph: IFU spectroscopy fed with the direct or AO-corrected beam. 5σ one
hour point source sensitivities are approximately K=18.7.

Altair - facility AO
system: for
use with NIRI (except M band imaging and L & M band spectroscopy) and NIFS.

See the target accessibility page for important information regarding
instrument availability and a plot of accessible RA and Dec.
For Semester 2011B targets
must be limited to
17 < RA < 13.5 and -37 < dec < +79,
and targets for GMOS-N are further restricted to 20.5 < RA < 13.5.;
the LGS system has a
stricter elevation constraint of >40 degrees.

Gemini South: Facilities

GMOS South
- 0.36-0.95 micron imager and spectrograph: imaging and long-slit, multi-object and integral
field spectroscopy. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately R=26 for imaging and
R=21-23 for spectroscopy.

NICI - 1-5 micron dual-channel coronagraphic
imager:
The Campaign Targets are not available for
community NICI observations. Additional filters
may be
available in 2011B. Constraints must be at least as good as CC 70 and IQ 70.
CC 70 programs need to have brighter guide stars and less demanding sensitivity requirements. T-ReCS and NICI will share the up-looking port in semester 2011B. Due to NICI's good weather requirement,
NICI will most likely be mounted from October 2011 to January 2012, and targets for NICI should be limited to 21 < RA < 12.

T-ReCS - 8-26 micron
imager and spectrograph: imaging and moderate resolution (R=100 and R=1000) spectroscopy. 5σ
one hour point source sensitivities are approximately N=11 for imaging and N=8 for spectroscopy. T-ReCS and NICI will share the up-looking port in semester 2011B. T-ReCS will most likely be mounted from August to September and
targets for T-ReCS should be limited to 16 < RA < 5.

See the target
accessibility page for important information regarding instrument availability and a plot of
accessible RA and Dec. For Semester 2011B targets
must be limited to 16 < RA < 12 and -89 < dec < +28;
targets for NICI are further restricted to 21 < RA < 12,
and targets for T-ReCS to 16 < RA < 5.

Questions and Answers

All questions concerning proposals, or any other subject, should be
made using the Gemini
HelpDesk. This web-based
system will send the request to your National Gemini Office staff in
the first instance
who will then escalate it to Gemini staff if necessary.

Comments and suggestions on the format
and content of this page and supporting pages are welcome, and should be sent
to Sandy Leggett.